As Election Day draws near, mayors and police chiefs across the country are getting a new warning: Extremists have jettisoned their nationwide election intimidation strategy in favor of local efforts focused on neighborhood ballot boxes.
Why it matters: Groups such as the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers are looking to sway the upcoming midterms in favor of their preferred candidates by signing up as poll workers and drop-box watchers.
Driving the news: The U.S. Conference of Mayors held an event this week warning of decentralized election interference efforts targeting local voters, candidates and election workers.
- “We’ve seen them dismantle some of their nationwide organizations,” said Mary McCord, executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection and a former Justice Department prosecutor.
- “So the Proud Boys dismantle nationally in favor of state chapters — the Three Percenters did the same,” she told the mayors.
- The change began after the 2020 election and grew more pronounced after the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack.